Marshal Law (comics)
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Marshal Law is an English language superhero comic book series created by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. One of the first major creator-owned characters for a major publisher, it was first published by Epic Comics in 1987. The series is a savage satire on the whole superhero genre, and certain specific hero characters in particular.
The series is characterised by its extreme graphic violence and nudity, and Mills' merciless savaging of superhero conventions and US government policy and society.
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[edit] Synopsis
The title character, Marshal Law, is a government-sanctioned vigilante with superpowers in the city of San Futuro, the near-future metropolis built from the ruins of San Francisco following a massive earthquake. Law's purpose is to take down other superheroes who have gone rogue, which he does with maximum force and great pleasure.
Marshal Law's alter ego is Joe Gilmore, a former supersoldier consumed with self-hatred about being a superhero. In this world, superheroes are commonplace thanks to genetic engineering, much of the United States' armed forces having undergone the process. However, while their bodies may become super-powered, their minds remain exactly as they were, and in many cases the inability to feel pain causes the subjects to compensate by inflicting pain on others. Psychosis of varying degrees is also a common side-effect, and some subjects develop wildly uncontrollable superpowers.
The Marshal's main enemies are the Public Spirit (a ruthless parody of Superman) and the Sleepman, a serial killer and rapist who is the Public Spirit's illegitimate son seeking to manipulate the Marshal into killing his father. Private Eye (a parody of Batman) and The Persecutor (a parody of the Punisher) are other major opponents. A recurring secondary adversary (initially treated seriously, though later becoming comic relief) is Suicida, a psychopathic ex-soldier who leads the murderous Gangreen street gang.
[edit] Publishing history
Marshal Law started life at Epic Comics on October 1987 in a six issue mini series. The series proved popular, although it did suffer from shipping delays, and was followed by the Marshal Law Takes Manhattan one-shot, in which most of Marvel Comics major characters were ruthlessly parodied.
In 1991, Mills and O'Neill took the character to the fledgling Apocalypse Comics for a one-off special & then as the flagship story in Toxic!, a weekly comic started in 1991 to compete with 2000AD. Toxic! proved to be short lived and the Marshal Law strip suffered from missing issues and eventually Apocalypse Comics went bankrupt in 1992, leaving the character in publishing limbo and the story in Toxic! incomplete. Mills and O'Neill then took Marshal Law to Dark Horse Comics where the story in Toxic! was completed in late 1992. That year also saw the character return to Epic Comics for a two issue series pitting the Marshal against Clive Barker's Pinhead character.
The next few years saw Marshal Law appear in various crossovers with other characters, including The Savage Dragon and The Mask. In the year 2000 Mills and O'Neill took the character to Cool Beans World, which was a website which also featured the works of Simon Bisley. The stories here were illustrated novellas, rather than actual comic strips, titled The Day Of The Dead (which was published in a paperback edition) and Cloak Of Evil, they were popular but problems with the site led to its closure in 2002.
A proposed film remains unmade.
Top Shelf Productions will be publishing a Marshal Law compendium.
[edit] Bibliography
Original comic appearances:
- Marshal Law #1-6. Epic Comics 1987-88.
- Marshal Law Takes Manhattan. One-shot, Epic Comics 1988.
- Marshal Law - Kingdom of the Blind. Apocalypse Comics one-shot, 1990.
- Toxic! #1-8, 14/15, Apocalypse Comics 1991.
- Marshal Law - The Hateful Dead. One-Shot, Apocalypse Comics 1991.
- Marshal Law - Super Babylon. One-Shot, Dark Horse 1992.
- Marshal Law Vs Pinhead-Law in Hell. Two issue series, Epic Comics 1993.
- Marshal Law - Secret Tribunal . Two issue series, Dark Horse 1994.
- Marshal Law/Savage Dragon. Two issue series, Image Comics 1997.
- Marshal Law/The Mask. Two issue series, Dark Horse 1998.
- 2000AD# 1280. Rebellion 2002.
Trade paperback releases:
- Marshal Law - Fear and Loathing. Reprints Marshal Law #1-6 (Epic Comics, 1990 ISBN 0-87135-676-7; Titan Books, 2002 ISBN 1-84023-452-0)
- Marshal Law - Blood Sweat and Tears. Reprints Kingdom of the Blind, Hateful Dead, and Super Babylon. (Dark Horse, 1993 ISBN 1-878574-95-7; Titan Books, 2003 ISBN 1-84023-526-8)
- Marshal Law - Fear Asylum. Reprints Takes Manhattan, Secret Tribunal, and vs The Mask (Titan Books, 2003 ISBN 1-84023-699-X)
- Marshal Law - The Day of the Dead. An illustrated novella (Titan Books, 2004 ISBN 1-84023-636-1)
- Marshal Law - Cloak of Evil. An illustrated novella (Titan Books, 2006 ISBN 1-84023-683-3)
